ASPARAGINOUS PLANTS. — ASPARAGUS. 



127 



spoiling it. Were glass tubes used, the crop 

 would be hastened forward, and probably 

 increased in size, without doing injury to 

 the colour or lessening its flavour. No 

 shoots ought to be allowed to exceed 6 

 inches in length. In proceeding to cut 

 the buds, remove with the side of the aspar- 

 agus knife a little of the soil from around 

 their base, push the knife gently down- 

 wards, keeping it quite parallel and close 

 to the shoot to be cut, taking great care 

 in doing so that none of the buds yet 

 under ground are cut or injured : when 

 the knife is as deep as the base of the 

 shoot, give it a slight twist, pressing it at 

 the same time close to the shoot, and draw 

 it gently upwards, by which process the 

 bud will be separated from the crown. 

 The wound, being ragged, in consequence 

 of being cut with a serrated edge rather 

 than a smooth one like a knife, will not 

 bleed so much, and hence be less weaken- 

 ing to the plant. Fig. 49 shows such an 

 instrument : there are other forms in use, 

 Fig. 49. 



ASPARAGUS CUTTER. 



but in no way superior to this. The 

 blade should be thin, about 9 inches in 

 length, with a wooden handle : by being 

 slightly hooked at the point, it is less 

 liable to cut the underground buds, while 

 the serratures on the concave side more 

 readily catch the shoot intended to be 

 cut. Many use only a common pruning- 

 knife, especially when the shoots are to 

 be cut about an inch under the surface ; 

 but the cleanness of the wound leaves the 

 sap-vessels open, and a considerable waste 

 of sap is the consequence. A shallow 

 basket should be carried in the one hand 

 to receive the shoots as they are severed 

 by the other, and they should be laid 

 with their buds pointing in one direction, 

 and afterwards carried to the vegetable- 

 house to be washed, dressed, and tied up 

 in bundles of about 3 inches in diameter 

 each, the ends of the shoots cut all to an 

 equal length and neatly placed together, 

 so that no one bud projects beyond an- 

 other. In this way they are ready for the 

 cook, who, depending on the man who 

 serves the kitchen having properly cleaned 

 them, commits them at once to the sauce- 

 pan of boiling water in bundles as they 



are. In cutting from established beds, 

 every bud, large and small, is cut, and 

 they are afterwards sorted into sizes, one, 

 two, and three, the first being the largest 

 and finest formed, the second of a less size, 

 while all the small, or any that may have 

 the points of the buds damaged or broken 

 off, are placed in the third, to be used for 

 soups, imitation green pease, or the like. 

 This general gathering will often continue 

 for from four to five weeks, after which 

 only a few of the larger should be taken, 

 the rest being allowed to grow for the 

 support of the roots and encouragement 

 of buds for another season. The reason 

 why the whole buds are cut away is, that 

 if a portion of them were left and allowed 

 to grow, they would draw too much upon 

 the roots, and render them unable to 

 continue sending up more ; or if they do 

 so, such shoots would be small and worth- 

 less. With young buds the case is differ- 

 ent ; they must not be so closely cut ; 

 only a few of the stronger buds should be 

 taken, and even that not continued longer 

 than about a fortnight. By the middle 

 of June in England, and the latter end of 

 it in Scotland, cutting should entirely 

 cease if the future crop is to be regarded ; 

 or a bed or two may be gone on with ten 

 days longer, and such beds have a respite 

 the following season. Beds intended to 

 be forced should have very few of the 

 buds cut, if any at all. It often happens, 

 in cold seasons, or in late situations, that 

 the buds come slowly through the ground, 

 and in such cases there is often a number 

 of hard, dry, scaly appendages found at- 

 tached to the shoots near their base. 

 These should be carefully scraped off with 

 a sharp knife in the vegetable-house before 

 tying up, but on no account should the 

 skin be peeled off. Some, however, pre- 

 fer allowing the shoots to attain the height 

 of 6 or 8 inches above ground, and then 

 to cut over close to the surface. This is 

 no doubt a very good way when it is 

 growing rapidly, and in that way its full 

 flavour will be attained. 



Asparagus may be kept several days 

 after cutting, if their ends be set into 

 a shallow vessel of water, and placed in a 

 dark cool cellar to prevent the buds 

 opening. 



Approved sorts and their qualities. — There is 

 only one kind of asparagus, although seed-lists 

 present us with a goodly number of names, 



